Economic nationalism after empire: a comparative perspective on nation, economy, and security in Post-Soviet Eurasia

ENThis dissertation also explains how nationalisms and national identities in general affect the economic relations among states. Such an explanation is important because the study of international relations currently lacks one. International political economy scholars have tended to conflate economic nationalism and economic statism, also known as mercantilism. This is an analytical mistake: nations are not equivalent to states; economic nationalism is not equivalent to mercantilism; and a Nationalist perspective on international political economy (which emphasizes the causal power of nationalism) cannot be equivalent to the Realist perspective (which emphasizes the causal power of statism). A Nationalist perspective on international political economy differs fundamentally from the field's dominant theoretical alternatives, Realism and Liberalism. Building upon distinct traditions in international relations theory, this dissertation outlines those fundamental arguments that must compose a framework linking nationalism and the economy. A core argument distinguishes each approach's understanding of the state: the Nationalist state is purposive, while the Realist state is self-interested, and the Liberal regulative.